Henry Thompson from Oxford, England drew inspiration from the Couchbike in putting together this armchair bike.

According to Henry, it started with a £9/$18 armchair from e-bay. He bought the six feet or 1.8 metres of 2″ / 500mm square section tubing and half a day of time of the welder/fabricator, Julian Bloomfield – a gentleman artisan of the old school. And Juriaan’s wheels – which are pricey but there isn’t a substitute. Everything else came from junk.

It only took a couple of days of his time to make.

The armchair bike will be going on the World Naked Bike Ride – an event that throws light on the vulnerability of cyclists and on our dependence on oil – (Henry works in the oil industry himself). Last year, he went on a normal bike and laughed himself silly for 3 hours straight. This year on the armchair bike, Henry imagines he’ll get a lot of attention, and so he’ll be wearing an orangutan suit – his nod to the palm oil bio-fuelled predation on the rainforest home of our second cousins.

After the ride it’ll go on e-bay as a comfy bike. Sadly, Henry hasn’t got anywhere to keep it!